Jessica Pierce-LaRose
07-24-2012, 12:28 PM
Getting my cabinet finished up, and I've got a mounting question.
I'll be using z-clips (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=41869&cat=3,41306,41308) - sort of aluminum french cleats. I like the lower profile, and for whatever reason I've got enough of the strip material around to work for this.
With those, I'm not worried about the strength of the cleat material, (not that I would be with appropriately sized wooden cleats either) but the hold the fasteners have to the surfaces their attached to. The manufacturer states they've tested the zclips by mounting two 2x4s using four #8 x 3/4" pan head screws, and adding a load to the assembly - it failed at about 475 pounds, but that was when the fastner pulled out - there was no damage to the brackets.
The wall side is easy, I think. - use the longest screws that will work, and mount them into the studs. My studs are 16" on center in the place I plan on attaching them. I'm planning on using two cleats, one towards the top, one towards the bottom. I can probably fit two screws at each location where the cleat crosses the studs; so four screws for each cleat. I may add a toggle fastener or something in the middle behind the drywall; less for added support, but just for leveling and alignment purposes - by fastening just the center, I can more easily rotate the cleats until they're level before making the final attachments at the ends.
I think there may be a cross brace in the portion of the wall I'm looking at mounting to - if that's the case, I'll mount into that as well.
The cabinet side I'm little more wondering about. The cabinet has a 2'x4' piece of cabinet grade, 1/2" thick ply as the back. The dovetailed carcase is 3/4"ish thick poplar, rabbeted to accept the back. The back is screwed into the carcase with #8, 1 1/4" screws every four inches or so around the perimeter, as well as with those same screws into the back of all horizontal and vertical dividers. Dividers are a tight fit, dadoed and glued into the carcase and each other.
My question is how to best attach the cleats to the back of this cabinet.
The viable options I see are to
1) Use screws spaced frequently along the length of the cabinet, screwed into the plywood back. I wonder how sturdy this would be, given the back is only 1/2" thick.
2) Go through the back of the cabinet, and use bolts, nuts and washers to secure the cleats to the back of the cabinet. Not fond of this option because it exposes those nuts and washers on the inside show face of the cabinet. On the lower bracket, not such an issue because I can hide the nuts washers behind the drawers. I suppose I could hide the upper nuts behind some wood somehow.
3) Align my brackets and use longer screws, to screw both into the back of the cabinet and the carcase and horizontal dividers. Seems apt to be sturdier than option 1 because I can use longer screws if I go right into the carcase and dividers parts. It might limit my screw spacing somewhat because I'd have to work around the screws holding the back to the case. I suppose the only benefit of option 1 is that I could use more screws, but they'd have to be shorter, so I think it's a wash. I'd also have to make a note of where those screws where so I didn't hit them later on adding mounting points for tools to the cabinet.
Any opinions? I'm planning option 3, at this point, I guess, but I wonder if going with through-mounting with bolts would be better.
I know as I often do, I'm probably overthinking things, but I feel like it's probably better in a case like this to overthink it rather than have all my tools crash to the floor.
FWIW, according to my wife's bathroom scale (I have no idea how accurate it is, but at least it seems very consistent) the cabinet is 63 pounds, give or take. 20 of that is the doors. That's before tools, of course. I have no idea how much that will add.
I suppose I could order more and add a third cleat to this, but I might be forced to go with option 1 or 2 for that middle cleat, as finding a space for it could be difficult.
I'll be using z-clips (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=41869&cat=3,41306,41308) - sort of aluminum french cleats. I like the lower profile, and for whatever reason I've got enough of the strip material around to work for this.
With those, I'm not worried about the strength of the cleat material, (not that I would be with appropriately sized wooden cleats either) but the hold the fasteners have to the surfaces their attached to. The manufacturer states they've tested the zclips by mounting two 2x4s using four #8 x 3/4" pan head screws, and adding a load to the assembly - it failed at about 475 pounds, but that was when the fastner pulled out - there was no damage to the brackets.
The wall side is easy, I think. - use the longest screws that will work, and mount them into the studs. My studs are 16" on center in the place I plan on attaching them. I'm planning on using two cleats, one towards the top, one towards the bottom. I can probably fit two screws at each location where the cleat crosses the studs; so four screws for each cleat. I may add a toggle fastener or something in the middle behind the drywall; less for added support, but just for leveling and alignment purposes - by fastening just the center, I can more easily rotate the cleats until they're level before making the final attachments at the ends.
I think there may be a cross brace in the portion of the wall I'm looking at mounting to - if that's the case, I'll mount into that as well.
The cabinet side I'm little more wondering about. The cabinet has a 2'x4' piece of cabinet grade, 1/2" thick ply as the back. The dovetailed carcase is 3/4"ish thick poplar, rabbeted to accept the back. The back is screwed into the carcase with #8, 1 1/4" screws every four inches or so around the perimeter, as well as with those same screws into the back of all horizontal and vertical dividers. Dividers are a tight fit, dadoed and glued into the carcase and each other.
My question is how to best attach the cleats to the back of this cabinet.
The viable options I see are to
1) Use screws spaced frequently along the length of the cabinet, screwed into the plywood back. I wonder how sturdy this would be, given the back is only 1/2" thick.
2) Go through the back of the cabinet, and use bolts, nuts and washers to secure the cleats to the back of the cabinet. Not fond of this option because it exposes those nuts and washers on the inside show face of the cabinet. On the lower bracket, not such an issue because I can hide the nuts washers behind the drawers. I suppose I could hide the upper nuts behind some wood somehow.
3) Align my brackets and use longer screws, to screw both into the back of the cabinet and the carcase and horizontal dividers. Seems apt to be sturdier than option 1 because I can use longer screws if I go right into the carcase and dividers parts. It might limit my screw spacing somewhat because I'd have to work around the screws holding the back to the case. I suppose the only benefit of option 1 is that I could use more screws, but they'd have to be shorter, so I think it's a wash. I'd also have to make a note of where those screws where so I didn't hit them later on adding mounting points for tools to the cabinet.
Any opinions? I'm planning option 3, at this point, I guess, but I wonder if going with through-mounting with bolts would be better.
I know as I often do, I'm probably overthinking things, but I feel like it's probably better in a case like this to overthink it rather than have all my tools crash to the floor.
FWIW, according to my wife's bathroom scale (I have no idea how accurate it is, but at least it seems very consistent) the cabinet is 63 pounds, give or take. 20 of that is the doors. That's before tools, of course. I have no idea how much that will add.
I suppose I could order more and add a third cleat to this, but I might be forced to go with option 1 or 2 for that middle cleat, as finding a space for it could be difficult.